Rail bond



, P. P. PIPES RAIL BOND original Filed May 25. 1927 f 11mm-f1. rires; orf MANSFIELD, 01110, AssIGNoa'ro THE omo BRASS coivrrnrri or.

readysfor Vwelding 'by means of the electric Patented May 31, 1932 ummm STATES mirent .ortica i MANSFIEL), OHIO; A' CORPORATION 0F NEW JERSEY e RAIL BOND Appueatipn mea Mey 25, 19427, vserieu Ne. 193.973. Renewed october 11, 1929.

My-invention relates toconnectors for electrically-uniting the adjacent ends of conductorsfand particularly Athat class of lconnectors knownas rail bonds.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple;- eiii'eient'and*inexpensive bond, and which can be applied to therail by means of thefcarbonor metallic arc or vby the oxyaeetylene Iflame.

Another object of my inventicn is to -proe vide afbond in Which-t the parts offthe bond and thief rail arc-f each united to the other through'themedium of a welding metal which is integrallyiuni-ted to 'each of theparts by a Welded l'ormolecularunion.

Another "object-fof myinvention is to p rovidea bond in which? th'eparts when united to arail rest in rsubstantially a horizontal plane.

Myinventi'on resides inthe new and novel construction; combination and relation of the various: parts hereinafter described and shown 1 in 1 the `accompanying drawings.

Inthefdrawings: Y Y

Fig: 1i shows a top view of the bond as positionedupon the side of a rail head and arc; l

Figc 2 shows a side view ofthe bond as positioned upon the. side"v surface of the rail head."` y f p i Figtisasection. of a bond and on the line and shows therelation of the bond terminal atthis point fto the yrail head.

Eigf'-isacsectionof'thefbond on the line 4 4 and showsthe relation of the bond terminai atthisfp'o-int tothe rail head. s

Figa.5"-showsfa'fsection of the bond terminal: Ease'vvelded'fto'ia trail head by means Vof the electric arc.

Fig. 6 is a section similar to Fig.r5, but in Whichanoth'er face `ofthe bond terminal has been".l appliedtothe rail f as hereinafter described iandthe'bondI terminal secured to thel rail abyi meansofthev Oxy-acetylene iiame.`

rail-.bond fappliedlto the rail 4in the position illustrated in'V Fig.' 6:1 Infthe preferred embodiment of y'myfinventionfliemployla flexible'body l which maybe composedofavplurality of Wires or`lamina- VIisigsTisfaatop plan view ofone end ofthe tions and z made preferably of copper although other metals may be used if'desired.

The rbody member isgiven a U-shaped bendV To each end of the body is secured a termi-- nal member 2 formed -up preferably ofsheet steelor iron, although copper orcopperbase.

alloy may be used, such asiphosphorus copper. Y

l The terminal comprises a sleeveportion 3 and a projecting portion 4f. 4The sleevefportion has two fiat surfaces 5 andLG. These are-made preferably flat for presentation to the 4surface ofthe rail, depending upon Y whether the bond is to be applied by the electric arc or Oxy-acetylene flame, asv later described'. As stated, vthe terminal'is preferably formed up' out ofsheetmetal, which is a simple and inexpensive operation and/permits the use of'material'more suited't'o the requirements 4'than where the terminal iscast, and the sleeve portion?) can' be leftsomewhat open for the convenient insertion of the body l` and Vthe sleeve 7, pref-- erably formed up outof thin sheetcopper; The sleeve portion S'is compressed upon the sleeve 7 and body 1` and the fact thatth'e sleeve `3 is not continuous, but is provided withthe joint-i8', permits the sleeveV 3 to engagevthe lparts llA and 7 moresecurelyand neatly lthan ifthe sleeveB were continuous7V whichiwould'probably require a crimping orfolding of the metal in the sleeveV 3 to bring` it'into-proper relation with the parts.- The projecting.portionl 4 I might vdescribe' as `approaching a quarter section of a projec- Y tile, .butfthe same does not conform to a plane of "revolution, although` it may, for'the reason that I prefer to `make thebottom portion 9A somewhat flat and a little longer than the side electrode', but when the other face of the terminal is applied to the rail, the bottom '9, as shown in F ig. 6, becomes the side 10 and the side 1() becomes the bottom 9, and in tis position the bond can be applied by the oXyacetylene flame. Of course, it is evident that the sides 9 and 10 can be made equal if desired or the projecting portion l could conform with a plane of revolution in which the inner and outer edges of the projecting portion 1, shown in Figs. 4 and 6, would conform to radii having a common center.

The terminal 2 when positioned against the rail forms a receptacle 11 therewith, and thev end of the body-member 1 projecting within the receptacle 11 forms, together with the inner face ofthe sleeve 3,. awall or one side of the receptacle.

It will .be noted that the terminal varies in height, as indicated by the angle a, when in oneposition on the rail, and this is for the purpose of reducing the depth of the recess at the extreme end of the terminal so as to economize in the amount of metal which is necessary to attach the terminal to the rail, as attaching metal is usually of copper or a copper lbase alloy, containing a fluxed material and which is relatively expensive.

The projection ofthe body member 1 within the receptacle permits the arc or oily-acetylenev flame to be played upon the end of the body 1 more conveniently and Athereby insure Y mit the welding metal to properly unite with proper union of the welding metal therewith.

It will be noted in Fig. 2 that the upper edge of the terminal is lower than the upper edge of the sleeve 3 as indicated at b, and this difference permits a space 12 between the terminal and the rail head when the bond is applied in the other position and as shown in Fig. 6. This space is 'of considerable importance when the bond is applied by the oxyacetylene flame, but is a detriment when applied by the electric arc, therefore, the bond being applicable to the" rail in the two positions described is suitable in one position or the other for either the Oxy-acetylene flame f or the electric are. The-function of the space 12 is to prevent the rebound of the gas flame when it is directed into the corner between the terminal and the rail. I lind that if I attempt to apply the terminal as shown in Fig. 4 by the gas flame, that the closed corner between the terminal Vand the rail appears to form a pocket which causes the flame to be reflected and which does not reach the extreme corner, and, therefore, -1 the parts are not brought up to a temperature which will perthe parts in the corner, but with the space 12 present, the flame is not refl-ected and shoots tov some extent through the opening 12 thereby bringing the rail and the terminal at their adjacent points up to aproper temperature, and permitting the welding metal to thoroughly unite with the parts in the corner. The sleeve 7 absorbs vibration between the strands of the body 1 and the terminal, and also protects the strands, which are usually of copper, from the edge of the sleeve 3 and thereby prevents mechanical injury to the strands.

I prefer to have the terminal 2 securely united to the body 1 and sleeve 7 so that all relative movement therebetween is prevented. This I consider quite important for the reason that a welded union between the copper of the body and the attaching metal is liableto not be as strong as the unwelded metal, but if the terminal 2 is immovably and securely united to the body 1, then when the welding metal is applied to the receptacle 11 and united to the inner surface of the terminal and to the surface of the rail, these parts will be securely iiXed against relative movement and willv prevent any relative used, and it is necessary that the entire bond shall rest above the surface of the fishplate, and I have, therefore, provided a bond of this character when applied bythe electric are, but when the bond is positioned for application by the Oxy-acetylene flame, the bend will be directed downward, but if vthis is found to be inconvenient, it is a very simple matter for the workmen to straighten the body out and give it the necessary bend at right angles to that shown in Fig. 1, thereby bringing the entire bond when applied by the Oxy-acetylene flame above the fishplate and in a substantially common horizontal plane.

It might be said that the axis of the terminals are longitudinal and the aXis of the body portion is also longitudinal and the bond isV substantially a straight line bond, also the axis of the terminal and that of the body may not exactly coincide.

There are, of course, modifications tothe bond as disclosed, which will be evident to those skilled in the art, and, therefore, I wish to be limited only by my claims.

`Iclaim:

1. A rail bond terminal comprising Va sleeve portion having a recesstherein to receiveand grip a conductor, a projecting portion forming with a rail a receptacle having concave shaped bottom and side walls, said receptacle being closed at the end remote from-the sleeve and having two open side faces disposed in intersecting planes, the terminal being applicable to a rail surface in two positions, in each of which, one-or the other of said open side faces, lies adjacent the rail and in one of which a space exists between the rail surface and the edge of the projecting portion.

2. A rail bond terminal comprising a sleeve portion having a recess therein to receive and grip a conductor, a projecting portion, the sleeve and projecting portion being applicable to the rail in two different relative positions and forming with the rail -in each position areceptacle which is closed at the bottom adjacent the rail in one position and which is open at the bottom adjacent the rail in the other position, said terminal hav- 1 15 ing two contact portions, each of which is extended to bear at a plurality of points on the surface of said rail, not in a straight line, to locate said terminal in either of its two positions.

3. A bond terminal comprising a portion to grip a conductor, an elongated portion projecting from the first said portion and having side and bottom walls to form with the vertical surface only of a rail a receptacle to catch, support and retain molten attaching metal, said receptacle having open sides opposite said side and bottom walls respectively, the outer edge of one of said walls being offset back from the outermost face of said gripping portion to hold said edge away from said rail surface for one position of said terminal, the receptacle formed by the said walls decreasing in depth in a direction away from the said gripping portion to reduce the amount of attaching metal used.

4. A rail bond terminal having a portion to grip a conductor and having two flat sides each applicable to a rail surface, an elongated part projecting from the said portion and forming a receptacle tocatch,support and retain molten metal, the projecting part provided with two edges, one of which is substantially flush with one side of the said gripping portion adjacent the portion and the other edge depressed relative to the other face of the said gripping portion, the projecting part forming with the rail surface a receptacle.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature. PLINY P. PIPES. 

